Jobs, Innovation, andEconomicDevelopment
The University works closely with employers, community partners, and regional authorities to foster social
and economic development and serve the needs of the economy and labour market. Already, the University
supports the economic and cultural development of the community and the surrounding region in several
ways, including the following:
• The recently expanded
(CCES) office emphasizes collaboration
with academic units to provide experiential and career development education for every student. Since
its re-organization, the unit has seen a 46% increase in student utilization of services, doubled internship
engagement, and experienced a 28% increase in co-op enrolment. CCES places nearly 1,000 students
withmore than 650 employers annually.
• The
(EPICentre) provides students and recent
graduates with opportunities to learn about entrepreneurship, and the resources to turn their ideas into
successful ventures. Six EPICentre facilities across campus provide dedicated space for discipline-
specific innovation and venture development, while a recently announced partnership will see these
services integrated with St. Clair College’s support for student entrepreneurship. The EPICentre offers
integrated cross-campus leadership, mentorship, entrepreneurial education, and technology-transfer
services. Students in upper-year business consulting courses act as mentors to community members
and peers establishing new businesses. Community mentors dedicate their time to helping student
startups succeed. The EPICentre works with a wide range of business and community organizations in
Windsor and Detroit. More than 1,000 University of Windsor students have engaged in some form of
entrepreneurial activity since 2011, which has led to the creation of dozens of spin-off companies.
• Students from the University of Windsor undertake hundreds of thousands of hours of community
service through programs including practica in Social Work, Nursing, Education, and Psychology;
community-based capstone projects in Engineering; Science and Health education and knowledge
translation initiatives; legal aid services, small business consultation, service learning, and leadership
development programs in local schools; involvement in theWindsor International Film Festival and other
cultural events; and integrated community support offered in local community housing through the
Community University Partnership. The University is strongly committed to expanding and enriching
these important experiential learning opportunities.
As you more than likely already know, the University has worked in partnership with the City of Windsor to
establish a campus location in the downtown core of the city, which will host programs in the Arts, Social
Work, and Executive Education. These programs will have a major impact on the community and have
already begun to drive the economic revitalization of the downtown Windsor core. In addition to this major
effort, the University has made a similarly strong commitment to transform the learning, work, and living
spaces on itsmain campus.
The following initiatives, programs, and courses also exemplify the University of Windsor’s commitment to
meeting some of the challenges foregrounded at this year’s Community Consultations. For further details,
follow the embedded links.
Student Engagement
•
Report onCommunityConsultations:Winter 2017
